It did not take long for everybody, except Mike, to join us at the table. Mother came out with dinner and we all started serving ourselves our first helping. Father said Grace and then we all started eating.
Mother made fish stew as the main course tonight with Rosemary bread with strawberry jam on the side and some nice herbal tea to drink. It was delicious.
As we were eating, there was a knock on the door. Everyone stopped eating immediately. No one thought for a second that it was Mike. Mike would never, ever knock. in fact, we almost never knocked on the door. It was our own home, So we knew right away something was off.
In my entire 11 years of life no one, other than my family has ever come to our woods or our mountain. My mother looked at my father with a look of panic on her face, Then my father got up and open the door.
I had never seen anyone outside of my family before. It was a surprise to there was a hair color, other than blonde and brown! He had slicked back black hair that went down to his shoulders and was wearing a fancy looking blue jacket with gold buttons. His pants were white, but there was mud clinging to there ankles making him look less regal than I think he wanted to.
"I am here under the authority of Lord Gifford Stephen Wiggins under whose protection this land is. We have come To inform any able bodied young men to come join in the war effort. Your family seems to have…" he paused for a second and looked at a scroll in his hand. "four such individuals and we require them to present themselves at the Lords estate in one week."
"There must be some kind of mistake. We are not under any Lords protection. This is considered floating territory free from any Lord." Said my father.
"These are war times it is not that time to dispute land claim. Even if you're not under my Lord protection, you would still be subjected to a call to arms." he stated in a hottie tone. "if the threat of war is not enough to get you to put aside these Concerns about whether or not you are under my Lord's protection, you can dispute it with him in a week at his estate." the man bowed and walked away.
My father just stood in the doorway, staring at the man's back as he went. Shortly after Mike ran up to my father in the doorway and asked him, "Who was that?! What's going on?"
My father just turned around, ignoring him, and gave my mother a worried book. She returned and kind.
" Mike grab yourself some dinner. I don't care if you finish chopping the wood yet or not everyone else get ready for bed your father and I have to talk." my mother said trying to keep the panic off her face.
Ray, Ben, and I silently stood up and head it off to do as we were told. Mike grumbled under his breath and headed into the kitchen to get himself. Some dinner and mother and father went off to their room.